How to Make Perfect Easter Eggs!!

Easter is quickly approaching and will be here in just a couple of weeks. For anyone who may not have realized it, Easter falls on March 27th this year. If you are one of those who dye Easter eggs with your children or grandchildren or just because you like colored eggs, there are alternatives to purchasing those overpriced dye kits that only come with a few color choices. For just about the same price, you can make your own rainbow of color choices with food coloring! In addition to making just about any color you can think of, you will still have food coloring left over that can be used for other baking or craft projects!

The best eggs for dyeing are, naturally, the white eggs. Farm fresh eggs will be the most difficult to peel the shell from. Eggs that are at least a week old, or older, will be much easier to peel. Many people do not know how to properly boil eggs. This is the method that I personally use:

Gently place your eggs in a single layer in the pot. Stacking the eggs will result in cracked shells and they might not all cook evenly. Boil your eggs in batches if your pot is not larger enough to allow for a single layer of all of the eggs that you want to boil.

Completely cover the eggs with cool water, with at least a depth of ½ inch of water over the eggs.

Bring the water to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.

Turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow eggs to sit for 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove the eggs from the pot of hot water and cool to room temperature.

After you hard boil the eggs, let them cool to room temperature before dying. Pour 1 cup of boiling water + 2 teaspoons white vinegar in each bowl, cup or other similar type containers. For the containers, do NOT use metal. Glass is best and easiest to clean out afterward. Alternatively, for smaller containers, you may use 1/2 cup boiling water + 1 teaspoon white vinegar.

Mix in the drops of food coloring, as indicated in the chart, to achieve the various colors. Slowly place the egg into container and leave submerged for at least 5 minutes – less time for a lighter color and longer for a deeper color. Keep your hands clean by using a whisk or tongs to add and remove eggs from the dye.

Here is a list of 35 food color combinations for you to try using the standard 4 vial of food colors (Blue, Green, Red and Yellow):

Apricot – 4 drops Green + 1 drop Red

Baby Blue – 4 drops Blue

Blue – 20 drops Blue

Cantaloupe – 24 drops Yellow + 2 Red

Cayenne – 14 drops Red + 1 drop Blue + 1 drop Yellow

Cranberry – 14 drops Red + 6 drops Blue

Deep Purple – 7 drops Blue + 3 drops Red

Dusty Rose – 14 drops Red + 6 drops Blue

Fuchsia – 18 Red drops + 2 Blue drops

Grape – 17 drops Blue + 4 drops Red

Green – 20 drops Green

Green Apple – 20 drops Green + 2 drops Blue

Hemlock – 12 drops Green + 6 drops Yellow + 3 drops Blue

Jade Green – 17 drops Green + 3 drops Blue

Lavender – 2 drops Blue + 1 drop Red + 1 drop Green

Lime – 24 drops Yellow + 4 drops Green

Maize – 24 drops Yellow + 1 drop Red

Mint Green – 14 drops Green + 6 drops Yellow

Spearmint – 12 drops Green + 6 drops Yellow + 2 drops Blue

Spring Green – 10 drops Green + 2 drops Blue

Orange – 20 drops Yellow + 5 drops Red

Orange Sunset – 17 drops Yellow + 3 drops Red

Pink – 10 drops Red + 1 drop Blue

Plum – 10 Red drops + 4 drops Blue

Purple – 15 drops Blue + 5 Red

Raspberry – 14 drops Red + 6 drops Blue

Red – 20 drops Red

Salmon Pink – 20 drops Red + 1 drop Green + 1 drop Blue

Sapphire Blue – 9 drops Blue + 2 drops Green + 1 drop Purple

Tangerine – 24 drops Yellow + 5 drops Red + 1 drop Green

Teal – 15 drops Green + 5 drops Blue

Turquoise – 5 drops Blue + 2 drops Green

Violet – 20 drops Blue + 2 drops Red

Watermelon – 24 Red drops + 2 drops Blue

Yellow – 20 drops Yellow

Experiment and see what color combinations you can create. You can create even more color combinations by using Neon Food Colors.

For further personalization, add designs to your eggs by wrapping tape or string around the eggs or draw designs or names on the eggs with crayons before dying them.

In my country, Easter falls on the 1st of may this year. In the countryside people dye the eggs naturally, using different vegetables: onions for red, for example. We also have a big tradition related to motifs on eggs, and for that, old women put the egg inside stockings, add a leaf and then boil then together with the onion. The final result will be red eggs with a white leaf shape on them. They are really nice.

I love ALL the different color options here – Thanks for the mixture combinations. Mine always end up poopy brown or something. For that reason, I usually make most of my eggs a different color on the top and bottom, but this year I am determined to make some good mixed colors! 🙂

This is such a good idea. I always used to decorate eggs when I was younger and I actually suggested to my fiancé that we should do it this year (he laughed). Looks like I’m doing it with my niece instead. Thank you for sharing!

My personal blog about This and That such as Practical and Helpful Tips useful in every day life, Cooking and Baking, Consumer Product Reviews, Historical Tidbits, and my personal Miscellaneous Musings about just about anything!! Every day I try my best to live by these wise and simple words: “Do the right thing, be nice, and don’t be a jerk”. I hope that I am successful at carrying out this simplistic, yet not-always-easy-to-accomplish task!